Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich, whose biography is described in this article, is a pilot-cosmonaut, lieutenant colonel. He was the commander of Soyuz-11 and the Salyut orbital station.
Family
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich (his family lived in Odessa) was born on June 1, 1928. He had a brother Alexander. Father, Timofei Trofimovich, left the family in 1930. He worked as head of counterintelligence. He left the service in 1957. George's mother, Maria Alekseevna, raised her children alone. There was not enough money, and she took part-time jobs at a local store as a cleaning lady. Then she got a job as a seller in an artillery school. Brother Alexander was born in 1946. He worked as a mechanic in the trawl fleet.
Childhood
Georgy Timofeevich's childhood was spent digging trenches and caring for wounded soldiers. He tried to get into some partisan detachment, but they did not take him, since he was still small. Then, together with their comrades, the same teenagers, they decided to organize their own. Found some weapons. The guys buried the machine guns in the ground, and kept the pistols and grenades.
But they were hunted down. The Dobrovolskys unexpectedly appearedThe police searched and found the weapon. George was arrested and sentenced to 25 years hard labor. Mainly because even during the torture he did not betray a single comrade. And they thanked him by arranging an escape for him. And less than a month later, Odessa was liberated from the Germans by Soviet troops.
Education
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich graduated from the 6th grade of the Odessa secondary school. Then, in 1941, the war began, and the studies had to be interrupted for a while. In 1944, Georgy Timofeevich first successfully passed the exams for the 7th and 8th grades and moved to the 9th, then he was transferred to the Air Force special school. He graduated in 1946. Two years later he entered the Chuguev Military Aviation School. After graduating from it, in 1950 he received the profession of a fighter pilot of the second degree.
Started service in the USSR Air Force. Dobrovolsky combined it with further education. He studied at the University of Marxism-Leninism. He graduated from high school in 1952. Then Grigory Timofeevich entered the Air Force Academy (now VVA named after Gagarin) for correspondence courses. After graduating from it, he received a command and staff speci alty.
Serving in the army
Since 1950, Dobrovolsky first served as a simple pilot. Two years later he became a senior. He was enrolled in the 965th air regiment of the 123rd air defense fighter division. In 1952, she joined the 71st Fighter Air Corps. Since 1955, Georgy Timofeevich was appointed deputy squadron commander for political affairs, and in the autumn of the same year - flight commander. In 1960, he received the position of navigator and deputy. squadron commander. A year later he was appointed chiefpolitical department. In 1962, Georgy Timofeevich Dobrovolsky was included in the lists of the best aviation commanders.
Astronaut training
In 1962, after graduating from the Air Force Academy, Dobrovolsky underwent a medical examination at the Central Research Aviation Hospital. The medical flight commission allowed Georgy Timofeevich into space. A year later, he joined the ranks of astronauts.
In January 1963, he was first enrolled as a student in the Central Collective Use Center. Then for two more years he underwent general special space training. In mid-January 1965, Georgy Timofeevich successfully passed the certification of an air force cosmonaut and ten days later became a cosmonaut in the second detachment.
From the beginning of autumn 1966 Georgy Timofeevich Dobrovolsky was trained in a group. The training was carried out according to the program of flying around the Moon by the Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft. From 1967 to 1968 preparations for the flight into space continued under the Almaz special program. In 1971, he studied for a month according to the flight program on the Salyut. Georgy Timofeevich was also preparing for the post of commander, to replace him if necessary. In this case, Dobrovolsky would have led the backup crew of Soyuz-11 cosmonauts. This group included V. Volkov and V. Patsaev.
The crew of Soyuz-11
The Soyuz-11 crew took shape gradually. In the late 1960s, only two people flew into space at a time. But the Americans were the first to launch three at once. The Soviet Union decided to keep up and began to select a crew of 3 people. The main team included A. Leonov, V. Kubasov and P. Kolodin. In the duplicate - Dobrovolsky, Patsaev and Volkov.
The first and last flight of Dobrovolsky
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich, whose wife bore him two daughters, continued to serve his homeland. On June 4, 1971, a meeting of the State Commission was held. The main crew of the Soyuz-11 was replaced by a backup. The reason is the blackout in the lungs of V. Kubasov. Georgy Dobrovolsky commanded the crew. June 6, 1971 Soyuz-11 with three cosmonauts launched at 7:55 Moscow time.
The next day, the ship successfully docked with the orbital station. So for the first time in the world a scientific manned station appeared. The Dobrovolsky crew performed a huge amount of test work on all station systems and conducted a lot of research and experiments. They opened up great prospects for geography, meteorology and geology, as well as for the study of the ocean, the resources of the Earth and its vegetation.
The flight lasted 23 days. 18 o'clock 21 min. and 43 sec. Then an unforeseen tragic event occurred that killed all the members of the expedition. During the return of the ship from the orbital station to Earth, communication with the astronauts first broke off. When the Soyuz-11 landed, lifeless bodies had to be removed from the aircraft.
Doctors immediately determined the cause of death - cardiac arrest. And all three at once. We figured out the reasons later. And then immediately resuscitation teamstried to bring the astronauts back to life. Moreover, the temperature of the bodies was normal. But the hearts never worked.
The cause of death was found later thanks to the decoding of the "black box". It turned out that at an altitude of 150 km there was a depressurization. The pressure began to drop sharply, and after 40 seconds it became almost zero. At 43 seconds after the depressurization, all three cosmonauts had their hearts stop simultaneously.
According to official data, the reason is the untimely opening of the ventilation valves. An error was found in the design of the spacecraft. The installers screwed ball valves on it instead of the required force of 90 kg - in total from 60 to 65 kg. As a result, there was a large reset, which forced the valves to work. But they could not withstand the load and crumbled. A hole with a diameter of 20 mm was formed in the ship. The astronauts first lost consciousness at the 23rd second. And then their hearts stopped.
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich. Personal life: wife and children
Georgy Timofeevich was married to Lyudmila Timofeevna. She worked as a teacher. George and Lyudmila had two daughters. The first, Marina, is still working at Moscow State University. She is an English teacher. The second daughter is Natalia.
Ranks and awards
Dobrovolsky Georgy Timofeevich received the title of Hero and Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR in 1971, but posthumously. He was awarded the Gold Star and Military Merit medals, as well as the Order of Lenin. During his service, Georgy Timofeevich was awarded seven more commemorative medals. From 1972 to the present dayin trampoline competitions, a special Dobrovolsky Cup is played. His ashes are kept in the Kremlin wall.
